One man, 18 characters is a tall order, but Bennett Gale will be stepping up to the task Saturday at the Avery Theatre in Etna to tell the tale of Scrooge the way Dickens would have had it.

“The Salvation of Mr. Scrooge” casts Gale in the role of Charles Dickens telling the story of “A Christmas Carol,” adapted by Gale to fit the one-actor performance that features himself as Dickens as the characters in the tale of Mr. Scrooge’s salvation through his bearing witness to the suffering of others.

“It’s a tour-de-force,” stage manager Kim Nile said in an interview Wednesday. Gale added that the story is presented as engaged storytelling, something he said Dickens himself would do for his friends.

While the story itself takes a hard look at issues of poverty and social justice, Gale said that Dickens also utilized humor, something he said can shine through when scenes are acted out on stage.

“Even though he was passionate about social justice, he had humor in his work,” Gale said, entering character to quote, “Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.

“Mind! I don't mean to say that, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.”

According to Gale, much of the material is in Dickens’ original language, but the script was written by Gale with some minor adaptations to fit the one-actor performance.

The Salvation of Mr. Scrooge is the company’s first one-actor play, and while it requires that the sole performer be at the top of his or her game, Gale said that it is also very gratifying to play the role and please the audience.

The play has made test runs at the College of the Siskiyous in preparation for Saturday’s event at the Avery, and Nile said that the audience has responded well. “The response so far has been enthusiastic,” she said.

Gale wants the audience Saturday to experience engaged storytelling and a classic Christmas tale from a legendary tale weaver.

The performance is directed by Bill Counts and Gale’s one-hour-and-40-minute makeup tranisition to Dickens is accomplished by make-up artist Janet Ackerman Beck.

Gale and Nile are part of the New Frontier Theatre Company, a new-comer on the Siskiyou County dramatic arts scene which put on three performances earlier this year.

Through the company, Gale said, he and Nile hope to establish themselves as an engine for entertainment and economy by bringing in audiences looking for professional performances that “set the bar really high.”

Page 2 of 2 - Tickets to the show can be purchased at Nature’s Kitchen in Yreka and at Wildwood Crossing in Etna for $11.00, but the donation of a canned food item brings a one dollar discount off the price.